Coordination Funds

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The chicken has a long history as a model organism and many seminal discoveries were made in this species. In the context of immunology, for example B cells were first discovered as antibody producing cells in chickens and graft versus host disease was identified in chicken embryos. In addition, poultry is one of the most important protein sources in the human diet worldwide. A plethora of pathogens infect chickens and threaten animal welfare and food safety. To protect the animals from these diseases, chickens receive many vaccines and are considered the most vaccinated species on earth; however, the underlying immune responses remain largely unknown.The objective of this research unit is to provide a better understanding of the avian immune system. To achieve this, we will focus on the adaptive immune response and its interactions with the most relevant pathogens. We will dissect the chicken immune response using recently generated genetically modified chickens lacking critical immune cells in combination with important infection models. This includes B cell, αβ T cell and γδ T cell knockout chickens as well as Salmonella, Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), Marek Disease Virus (MDV), and different protozoa species including Eimeria spp.. Simultaneously, we will characterize regulatory T cells by using the recently discovered chicken FOXP3 as a marker and further investigate the role of natural killer cells in birds. In addition, we will use for the first time immunopeptidomics approaches to identify peptides from pathogen presented by the chicken major histocompatibility complex (MHC) using our recently developed B and T cell culture systems upon infection with MDV and IBDV. Beyond this, we will develop adoptive transfer approaches using knockout chickens and a novel next generation sequencing-based MHC genotyping system to dissect the immune responses upon vaccination and subsequent pathogen challenges. This will allow us to identify and characterize the cell populations that provide protection against important pathogens. Taken together, the unique expertise of the research unit members, novel genetically modified chickens, infection models and state-of-the-art immunological tools is an exceptional combination that will contribute the success of the proposed work and will provide important insights into the avian immune system.